Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Dryer Vent Cleaning Across Pasadena
Dryer vent cleaning in Pasadena typically costs $135 – $225 for a standard single-story home, and most jobs are completed in under two hours. The bigger issue in this city isn’t lint buildup alone, it’s the way thousands of older Pasadena homes route dryer exhaust into or alongside original brick chimney chases that were never designed for forced air. That changes the job. Our team works across 91101, 91103, 91104, and 91105 every week, and we know what to look for before a small vent problem becomes a fire hazard. Call (855) 554-2841 and we’ll give you a straight answer on what your vent actually needs.
Why Hickory Chimney Sweep Is Pasadena’s Preferred Dryer Vent Cleaning Team
Ruben Acosta leads our crews, and he’s the one who set the rule that nothing gets recommended without camera evidence the homeowner can see. That matters in Pasadena more than most places, because the city’s housing stock is full of century-old chimneys and vent paths that invite aggressive upselling from contractors who never actually look inside the wall. We show you the footage. If the flue is cracked, you’ll see it. If it’s fine, we’ll tell you that too and clean the vent so it stays that way.
Our Pasadena customers tend to call us after a home inspection flags a dryer vent issue, or after their dryer starts taking two cycles to dry a load. We respond to those calls quickly because we’re based in East Los Angeles and work Pasadena routes multiple days a week. Same-week appointments are the norm, not the exception. We’re licensed, insured, and we carry the same professional-grade materials on the truck that we’d install in any repair, which means the fix happens on the first visit, not after a parts order and a two-week wait.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Dryer Vent Cleaning Services in Pasadena
Dryer Vent Cleaning
A standard cleaning in Pasadena runs $135 – $225, depending on vent length and access. We run a rotary brush and HEPA-filtered vacuum through the full duct run from dryer to termination point, then camera-verify the line is clear. In homes near Bungalow Heaven or along North Marengo, we routinely pull out 15 to 20 pounds of compacted lint from vents that were never cleaned since the house was remodeled.
Level 2 Inspection with Camera Documentation
This is the service that separates a real safety evaluation from a guess. We run a high-resolution camera through the entire vent path and record what we find. If the vent shares structure with a brick chimney chase, as is common in 91103 and 91104 Craftsman homes, the footage shows whether lint is packing against cracked clay tile or spalling mortar. We leave the video on your phone before we quote anything.
Transition and Termination Correction
The flexible foil hose behind a dryer is the most common failure point in Pasadena homes with shallow closet setbacks. It crushes, traps lint against the wall, and reduces airflow until the dryer overheats. We replace crushed foil with rigid metal duct, correct the termination point if it dumps into a crawlspace or attic, and make sure the outside termination has a proper louvered cap. We stock Famco termination caps and Olympia Chimney vent components for exactly these repairs.
Reroute and Repair of Improper Vent Paths
Pasadena’s older homes often have dryer vents that were run into a chimney chase or an old unused flue during a past remodel. That’s a fire risk no amount of cleaning fixes. We reroute the vent to a dedicated exterior termination where possible, using rigid metal duct and proper sealing. If the route runs alongside a historic brick stack, we’ll document the existing condition of the chase so you know whether the fireplace structure itself needs attention, not just the dryer line.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Pasadena
We don’t install hardware-store generics. The dryer vent and termination components we stock and install come from professional trade brands, the same ones specified by certified chimney and vent contractors. That includes Gelco vent components, Famco termination caps, Olympia Chimney products, and Copperfield masonry materials when a brick chase needs repair. For Pasadena homes with century-old structures, that matters. A vent repair that shares structure with a historic chimney should use the same quality of material as the chimney work we do, not whatever foil hose was on sale at the big-box store.
Common Dryer Vent Cleaning Problems We See in Pasadena Homes
- Lint-packed vents in 91101 and 91104 Craftsman closets. The original closets were never designed for modern dryers. The vent gets pushed back against the wall, crushing the foil transition, and lint packs against the back of the machine. Homeowners don’t see it until the dryer takes two cycles or starts throwing a thermal fuse.
- Dryer exhaust routed into the original brick chimney chase. This is Pasadena’s defining vent problem. The dryer was run into the unused fireplace flue during a remodel, so hot, lint-laden air is blowing against clay tiles and mortar never meant for that kind of exhaust. If the liner is cracked, lint can accumulate inside the chase itself.
- Crushed flexible transition ducts behind shallow-set dryers. The foil hose gets kinked between the dryer and the wall in tight Pasadena laundry closets. Airflow drops, the dryer runs hot, and the thermal fuse eventually fails. We replace the transition with rigid metal and check the full run for damage.
- High-efficiency dryers pushing air into undersized old vent runs. Modern dryers move more air than old ones. In Pasadena homes where the original vent run was installed decades ago, the duct is often too small or too long for the new machine. This causes backpressure, which means the dryer can’t push moisture out efficiently, and lint builds up much faster than it should.
See the difference
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After
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AfterPricing for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Pasadena, CA
Most dryer vent cleanings in Pasadena run between $135 and $225. A standard single-story home with a short, straight vent run sits at the lower end of that range. A two-story home with a longer run, or a vent that routes through a roof or alongside a brick chimney chase, sits at the higher end. If the vent hasn’t been cleaned in years and we’re pulling out packed lint from a 20-foot run, that job takes longer and the price reflects that honestly.
What affects the price: vent length, number of turns, accessibility of the termination point, and whether the vent shares structure with a chimney chase that needs inspection. Transition replacement with rigid metal duct runs $65 – $120. Camera inspection is included with every cleaning at no separate charge. We quote a flat price before we start, so you’re not watching the clock. Call (855) 554-2841 and we’ll give you an exact number for your Pasadena home.
We Also Serve Cities Near Pasadena
Our crews work all of the San Gabriel Valley corridor. We regularly serve South Pasadena, San Marino, Altadena, and East Pasadena, along with the surrounding Pasadena neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven, Prospect Park, and Madison Heights. If you’re anywhere near Pasadena, call (855) 554-2841 and we’ll tell you when we’re in your area next.
Serving Pasadena, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Pasadena area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Dryer Vent Cleaning in Pasadena
Generally, no. It’s one of the most common problems we find in Pasadena’s older Craftsman homes, and it creates a fire risk that standard dryer vent cleaning alone doesn’t fix. The flue was designed for wood smoke, not forced air carrying lint. If the clay tile liner is cracked, which most century-old liners are after decades of seismic settling, lint can accumulate inside the chimney chase where you’ll never see it until a fire starts. The right move is to have us camera the full vent path and document the condition of the flue before anyone quotes a repair. Call (855) 554-2841 to schedule that inspection. Estimates are free.
No. We never recommend a reline or a rebuild based on a ground-level visual. A crack in the clay tile flue is invisible from the outside of the stack. The only way to know if a reline is actually needed is with a camera inspection of the flue interior, which is what our Level 2 inspection provides. We’ve seen Pasadena homeowners quoted thousands of dollars for a rebuild based on a blurry photo of mortar that was actually fine. We leave the camera footage on your phone so you can see the crack yourself before you spend a dime on a repair. Call (855) 554-2841 to have your vent and flue camera’d.
It’s almost always a vent airflow restriction. In Pasadena’s older homes, the vent path is usually the culprit: crushed foil behind the dryer, an undersized old duct run, or a termination point that dumps into a space never meant for exhaust. When the duct is restricted, the dryer can’t push moisture out, so the cycle runs long and your clothes stay damp. We fix the vent path, not just clean the lint, and you’ll see dryer cycles drop back to one run. Call (855) 554-2841 for a free estimate on your Pasadena home.
NFPA 211 is the national standard for chimneys and vents, and it requires that any chimney flue that’s in service, meaning any flue carrying any appliance exhaust, be inspected and cleaned as needed. Even if you never use your fireplace, the chimney is still a structure, and if your dryer vent is routed into the chase or shares its wall, the flue condition still matters for fire safety. The standard is the basis for our Level 2 inspection, which uses a camera to see the entire flue interior. Call (855) 554-2841 if you want us to document what your chimney and vent actually look like.
No. The vent cleaning itself doesn’t touch the chimney exterior beyond the termination point. If the vent shares a chase with the chimney, we document the condition without any masonry work. If we find that a repair is needed, we work with your home’s existing brick and stucco and follow Pasadena’s heritage ordinance requirements for historic structures. The exterior look stays intact; the inside gets the proper vent path and materials it should have had in the first place. Call (855) 554-2841 to talk through your specific home.
The Pasadena Chimney Chase Problem: Why Your Dryer Vent Job Is Different Here
Pasadena has one of the most unusual dryer vent landscapes in Southern California, and it comes down to the city’s housing stock. In neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven, Prospect Park, and the tree-lined streets off North Marengo, thousands of homes were built between 1900 and 1930 as Craftsman bungalows with original brick fireplaces. Those chimneys have clay-tile flues, exterior brick stacks, and original hearths. The homes have been through a century of seismic settling along the Raymond and Sierra Madre fault zones, and many still have their original unlined or single-tile flues.
Here’s what that means for dryer vents. In Pasadena’s 91103 and 91104 bungalows, the dryer is frequently vented into or alongside the original brick chimney chase. Sometimes the foil hose from the dryer literally terminates inside an unused flue, dumping hot lint-laden air into a clay-tile cavity that was never designed for forced air. Sometimes the vent runs alongside the chimney structure and shares a wall with it. Either way, the vent path and the fireplace stack are now structurally connected, and the condition of one affects the safety of the other. That’s why dryer vent work in Pasadena often means documenting a vent path that shares structure with the fireplace, not just pulling a foil hose out of a wall.
We ran a Level 2 inspection on a Bungalow Heaven bungalow off North Marengo where the dryer had been back-venting into the original brick chimney chase for years. The camera showed lint packed against a cracked clay flue liner the seller had never seen, because the home inspector’s report just said “dryer vent needs cleaning.” We cleaned the full run, replaced the crushed transition with rigid metal and a proper outside termination, and rerouted the vent so it no longer dumped into the chimney structure. Then we left the homeowners the camera footage on their phone so they could see the flue crack themselves before anyone quoted a reline. That’s the standard we hold to on every Pasadena job.
If you’re in a Pasadena home with a dryer vent that makes you nervous, call (855) 554-2841. We’ll camera the vent, show you what’s there, and give you a straight answer on what actually needs to be done.
Written by Ruben Acosta, Owner at Hickory Chimney Sweep, serving Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.